Sun 14th Oct (Gatwick)
First of all, apologies for the delay in posting this trip report. Things have been so hectic since returning, and with Xmas fast approaching it’s not getting any easier to find time to do anything ….. I’m sure many of you can relate to this.

Our last visit to Meeru was in April 2006 which also happened to be a birthday present from my wife. I asked Maxi what she wanted for her 40th and she suggested a holiday. I asked her where she wanted to go and she said let the kids decide. Both my kids (Dillan 8 & Alisha10) chose to return to Meeru. I was amazed at their response and asked why they had not chose a destination like Florida. Both my kids said they loved the nature on the island. No matter where we looked there was always something fascinating to see that you don’t see anywhere else (Bats, Sharks, Geckos, Crabs, Stingrays and fish galore. The kids loved it and wanted to return to Meeru to experience this all over again.

We enjoyed our last visit to the Maldives so much that this time I felt that we wanted to see more. So this time we all decided on a 2 centre holiday with our 2nd week on Bandos Island. Bandos has a reputation for being a more child friendly island but also has an excellent house reef …. more about that later.

On our last visit we flew with Emirates from Heathrow. Brilliant food, movies & service. The only set back being a 3 hour wait in Dubai for our connecting flight to Male. But time flew in Dubai as the terminal has an amazing selection of shops & restaurants. This time round we chose First Choice flying from Gatwick. We arrived at the North Terminal for 2pm for our 18:05 departure. The First Choice check-in area had a long queue with only 4 desks open. The desks catered for all First Choice destinations so it took a good 20 minutes to get to the front. No problems with the luggage but a mix up with our seating. The gentleman who was checking us in told us that we could have 2 window seats with 2 front & 2 behind seating. But his computer went down half way through and he had to pass our tickets to the next check in desk. She completely messed things up and we ended up with 3 seated together in the middle section and one person behind.

First impressions of FC were good. Nice seat pitch & seat back TV. We didn’t bother upgrading our TV package on the way out as it was a night flight. Watched Spiderman 3 (which Dillan loved) and Oceans 13. Food was OK. Ordered some wine with the meal but it wasn’t chilled. The stewardess told me she would put it on ice until meal time …. Things like this make a difference so credit due. The rest of the flight was uneventful with the kids sleeping sideways & even upside down at some point …. how do they do that????

Mon 15th Oct (Day 1)
On our approach to Male we couldn’t really see the Atolls properly from the middle seats. Landed with a big bump at 07:45am. It was 30c & very sunny outside and that was at 8am in the morning. Chose the shortest queue at passport control but for some reason it turned out to be the slowest. The staff checking our passports really need to learn to smile … it would be so much more welcoming, but suppose that all passport control staff from around the world have a reputation for being miserable. By the time we got through Passport Control our luggage was already on the belt. We met Kelly (H&J rep) and what a wonderful person she was. Our wait in the café for our boat transfer was 1 hour as we were waiting for another couple flights. When a gentleman finally came round holding up a Meeru sign, 50 people gathered around him. Oh dear … looks like Meeru was going to be full this week. The boat journey was uneventful but it was air conditioned which was only helpful depending on where you were seated. Maxi & Alisha fell asleep but Dillan and I watched all the different island we passed. After around 30 minutes Dillan started to look a little irritated & uncomfortable … I’d seen that look before and asked him if he was going to be sick? I rushed him to the top deck where the captain was steering the boat. One of the windows was open which let in some fresh air so that calmed Dillan down. Sitting next to the captain got him excited again. I got chatting to Kelly (H&J rep) who was sitting with the crew. She had been in the Maldives for around 6 months and loved it. It wasn’t long before we spotted Meeru … that new Asian Wok gave it away. The WOW factor …. just a little bit as we had experienced it before but it did feel good. On our last visit we had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Humble Jim & Pam. We new they were on the island for their 10th visit. Both my self & Maxi were overwhelmed to see HJ and Pam waiting to greet us at the end of the peer. What a brilliant start to our holiday … there were hugs all around and a true feeling of coming home. Then it was off to the Kukuni Bar for our welcome drink, mint towels and room key. As we were a family it was a Land Villa for us. On our last visit we stayed in LV 217. We wanted to stay in a slightly different location to experience a different part of the island so we emailed ahead asking if we could stay in the 400 block. We were allocated LV 211. Oh well, some times you’re lucky and some times you’re not … never mind.

The Land Villa was fine (no different to 217) but the air conditioning units could do with an upgrade as they did struggle a bit. Noticed that the LV’s had now got TV’s. The outside bathroom also looked a little tired. Our luggage arrived (tipped the staff a 1$ each) with the extra beds for kids arriving 5 minutes later. I tipped them $1each as well.

The distance from villa to the beach is around 10 meters through the trees.

It's when you get past this point that it really hits you.

Whilst my self & Maxi unpacked, the kids got changed and went straight into the sea. The sea temperature was amazing … it’s like jumping into a warm bath. The first thing we noticed was the new JWV’s (301 – 344) to our left which spoilt the view a bit but I suppose it was something we just had to get used to.

We were on a FB basis this time compared to HB on our last visit. We much preferred the HB option as we did not really need lunch (a healthy breakfast was enough to keep us going through to the evening). But as it was part of our FB option, we felt we had to eat lunch regardless of whether we felt hungry or not. This was probably why we piled on the pounds. Our waiter was Mustafa who was a true gentleman. Very well spoken, always welcoming and always asked how we were. The choice for all 3 meals was brilliant. I love curry and there was always a curry dish to satisfy my addiction with my favorite being the Waa-Hoo Fish Curry and the Garlic Pickle (which was a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it).

After lunch it was off to the dive center to register. I met Ingrid (Dive Centre Manager), filled in all the forms and showed her my log book where she spotted that I had dived with them before. She seemed frustrated she didn’t remember me and then realized that she was away when I last dived with them in April 2006. Booked in 2 dives for the Tues & Wed and then made my way to the swimming pool.

The area around the swimming pool had not changed but there was a strong smell of diesel. I also noticed that there were fewer bats flying around. I only recognized one of the bar staff (Mud) from our last visit. He didn’t remember us from our last trip and a lot of the other waiters had left to work on other islands.

Dillan made a friend straight away (as kids do on holiday) … a young German boy named Marvin. Marvin could not speak English & Dillan could not speak German, but the universal language of having fun & playing together worked wonders.

The boys then proceeded to swim, dive and have fun.

Also met Marvin’s parents, Peter & Nadine. It was their first visit to Meeru but they had been to Bandos the year before so we spent the afternoon comparing our diving experiences as well as the islands. It was then that we noticed the dark clouds on the horizon …. Oh no, not rain on our first day. We sat on the beach watching one of the waiters setting up a table for someone’s romantic evening meal.

Poor fella was going to a lot of effort but I could see where this was going. It wasn’t long before the wind started to pick up and everyone around the pool started to run for cover. So it was back to the villa which we reached just as the heavens opened.

It rained for a couple of hours but stopped in time for dinner in the Farivalhu (which was great).

After our meal it was the uneventful crab race. The race had to be re-started 4 times as no one picked the 1st 2nd 3rd combination of winners. On a positive side the English Crab must have been on speed as it won all 4 races in a row. The eventual winner walked away with a case of beer which was a bit pointless as he was already on AI board. We then hit the sack …. oh no .… just noticed 3 mozzi-bites on me.

Tues 16th Oct
My first dive today. I am only Padi Open Water qualified so can only dive to around 17m. Met a nice guy on the boat named Grant. Noticed he had a similar Sony T-series camera & underwater case to me so we got chatting. The first dive is always a refresher (take your mask & regulator off under water and practice ‘out of air’ scenarios. The rest of the dive was fine but nothing new spotted that I had not seen before, never the less it was good to be back in the water and also try out my new underwater camera case. Managed to take some nice pics but need to buy a filter for my camera for my next visit so that the blueishness on the photos can be eliminated.

Still couldn’t get over how warm the water was in comparison to the Red Sea in Egypt … even in my 3mm shorty wetsuit.

On my return I enquired about upgrading the whole family from FB to AI at reception. It was $35 each per day. Now for some strange I was led to believe that the children were half price for the AI, but how wrong I was. Since when was a child going to consume $35 worth of soft drinks in a day???? The AI option for us as a family would have worked out at around £80 a day. There was no way we were going to spend that much on drinks in a day so we decided to stay on the FB option.

Spent the afternoon in between the pool and beach. Ordered my first ice coffee with a dash of dark rum …. as Borat would say …. “Very Nice!!!”

As we watched the sun going down I got Alisha to pose for me. She thinks she's model now .... every father's nightmare

I promised my self before coming to Meeru that I was going to use the Gym and I kept to that promise. It’s $5 for FB guests but free for guests on AI. The gym consisted of 1 cross-trainer, 2 running machines and 2 bikes as well as 2 weight lifting machines. The AC in the gym worked wonders.

We had a couple of cocktails in the new Asian Wok (very impressive building) followed by a meal in the Fari. The wine tasting was set up by the entrance of the Fari where we met Shashi. Tried all the wines and purchased 8 bottles of the rose which put a big smile on Shashi’s face (I think they’re on commission). This worked out much cheaper if you enjoy wine with your meal. All our purchased wine was kept chilled for us in the kitchen and we just asked our waiter when we wanted them with out meal.

After our meal, we watched the dive staff assemble for the dive night in the Kukuni Bar. Watched a couple of diving videos whilst the kids played pool & table tennis. Back to our villa for an early night as I was booked in for an all day dive on Wed. Oh no … another 4 bites discovered on me.

Wed 17th Oct
A full day of diving today. Spotted flying fish on the way to our first dive site including a brief glimpse of a sail fish that sort of jumped out of the water and then disappeared. We also passed the Robinson Crusoe island. You can just about make out the parasol all on its own.

My first dive was Trix Caves which consisted of a wall of coral with lots of large holes big enough to swim in & out of. I have to admit that I have never seen so many fish in my life. It seems that the most common fish in the Maldives are small blue trigger fish …. millions of them. The current was very strong and I had to hold on to some rocks at one point to the stop my self drifting away.

Lunch was served on the boat in the form of salad, fish cakes, rolls, slices of cheese, ham & salami, a veggie curry dish & OJ & fruit. It was then that we spotted a school of dolphins that swam around the boat. By the time we suited up and jumped in the water they all scarperred. Nothing special spotted on my 3rd dive. The heavens opened on our return boat journey back to Meeru. The wind was so strong that the rain actually stung us so we all wrapped our selves up in towels. Have to admit that this was quite an experience although a few people on the boat did look a little sea sick.

The rain stopped when we reached Meeru. I found Maxi & the kids by the pool. The rain didn’t seem to bother the kids as they were still jumping in & out of the pool as it was still warm. The rain continued on & off into the evening. Tried to book the Asian Wok for a meal but it was full. Our Night Fishing got cancelled. Phoned the Asian Wok again at 7pm to see if there were any cancellations because of the bad weather … bingo, got a booking for 8:30pm.

Had a word with our room boy Ahmed to spray our room because of the Mozzi’s. He did & left the spray can with us.

Enjoyed our meal at the Asian Wok but was disappointed that they no longer had Chicken Byriani or Chicken Madras on the menu. On our last visit when we ordered Nan we were served what looked like tortilla pancakes. But the good news was that the new AW now served freshly cooked Nan Bread. It continued to rain through out the night. No new Mozzi bites but the existing ones were now beginning to itch.

Thurs 18th Oct
Weather very overcast but still warm. Decided to try curry for breakfast. At this point I must say that I got a lot of strange looks from other guests eating breakfast in the Fari. There is more to life than sausage, eggs & bacon. This is the food that the Maldivians eat for breakfast everyday. You are a guest in their country so why not try a bit of their culture and give it a try rather than stick your nose up in the air. All I can say is …. DELICIOUS! Finally met the Latagris family who I spoke to on the forum … lovely bunch. Never found the following people - Beck & James, Mart & Jules, or Lisa.

Popped into the dive centre to see what dives were organized for the next couple of days. Lankin Reef (Manta Ray feeding station) got my attention but after speaking to a few people I found out that the boat trip alone was 1.5 hours to the reef. One of the other divers (Peter) suggested that I take this trip up when I’m on Bandos the following week as it’s only 45 minutes from there. So decided not to go on any more dives on Meeru & save all my diving trips for Bandos.

With my diving on hold it was time to unleash my baby …. The SEADOO GTI Scooter. I brought this excellent contraption with me (as I did on my last visit) as it is a lot of fun. For those that don’t know what this is, think James Bond. With my toy in hand, I made my way to the pool and bumped into Pam. "Where's HJ?" I asked. Pam pointed to one of the sunbeds .... aaaahhhhh ..... bless!

Both HJ & Pam had a go on the seadoo before the kids took off with it. Pam’s words were along the lines of ‘I could get used to this’ as she whizzed around the swimming pool.

HJ invited us up to the north end of the island to show us around room JWV 708. We took him up on his offer without hesitation. I told Maxi & the kids to go on ahead as I wanted to take the seadoo back to our LV for charging.

On the way up to the 700 block for my personal guided tour, I managed to take a few snaps (HJ style but not quite getting the same results with a digital camera) I noticed the new bar at the end of the 300 JWV’s.

It wasn’t open yet but the general construction was complete. Walked along the beach and spotted one of the staff up a tree cutting down coconuts. Took a picture as he waved.

Spotted lots of sting-rays & baby black-tip sharks as well as crabs.

Reached the JWV’s in the north and spotted Pam waiting in the SPA for her massage. I couldn’t resist creeping up from behind & whispering into her ear in a deep husky voice ‘get ya clothes off as I’m gonna rub ya down good and proper’. Poor Pam nearly jumped out of her skin. Every one else waiting for a massage looked stunned. At this point Pam turned to the couple opposite and said ‘It’s OK, he’s my lover … I take him with me every where’.

Finally got to JLV 708 … all I can say is WOW! If ever I return to Meeru without our kids, I wanna stay in one of those. Being the wonderful person HJ is he offered the use of his JWV to get changed in our swim wear so we could snorkel around the reef. Snorkeled for around an hour and found the visibility quite poor. Then the wind started to pick up …. Yep, you guessed it; the rain was on its way.

Rushed to the reception and ordered a buggy to take us down south. The heavens opened good & proper. Spend the rest of the afternoon on the veranda of our LV sipping peppermint tea watching the rain.

I managed to squeeze in another session in the gym before meeting up in the evening with HJ & Pam in the AW for drinks & cocktails. Have I mentioned how nice this couple are?

As it was still raining, HJ & Pam ordered a buggy to take them back to the north of the island for dinner. We grabbed a lift & jumped off at the Fari. Ate too much again and I’m hoping that my gym sessions were going to burn up all my carbs a little quicker.

Back to the LV …. Oh no, another 2 new fresh bites.

Fri 19th Oct
As I stuffed my self silly the night before I felt the need to go to the gym to work off my sins. I woke up nice & early (7am) and made my way to the gym. Damn …. It doesn’t open until 9am. Hung around reception for a bit where I bumped in HJ & Pam who where all ready to go home. Pam looked a little sad but it was hugs all around and along with the goodbyes.

Had my gym work out before heading back to our LV. Today was a lazy day on the beach in front of our villa. The kids whizzed around on the Seadoo whilst myself & Maxi soaked up the sun. Started to feel uncomfortable after a couple of hours as the sun was really hot.

Night Fishing cancelled again due to rain. Had drinks in the AW and got recognized by the manager. He remembered us from our last visit. We got chatting and I explained that although the new venue & location was brilliant, we missed some of the old menu. He said he would cook anything we wanted in any style we wanted. Placed my order of extra spicy Chicken Madras, Keema & Lamb Byriani for Sat night. It’s things like this that really makes ones holiday. When I got outside the Asian Wok, I did a little dance to celebrate only to realize that there were 2 couples having a romantic meal on the beach laughing at me.

It was Maldivian Night in the Fari. Lots of curry …. in my tummy!!!! We gave the Maldivian night a miss as we saw it the year before.

Sat 20th Oct
Woke up at 5:45 to watch the sun rise this morning. I can never understand how some people travel all the way to a destination like the Maldives only to sleep half the morning away. Then again if they’ve had a heavy session in one of the bars the night before, then may be that’s understandable. It’s an amazing feeling sitting on the beach at this time of the morning. The skies were not 100% clear but many of the stars were still visible including a very bright North Star.

At 6pm around 8 of the islands cleaners walked pass with a wheel barrow picking up any washed up items, branches, rubbish, etc generally cleaning the beach. I noticed a heron in the distance picking at crabs on the beach
It was walking in my direction. I stayed very still with no movement up to the point where the Heron was standing on a sun lounger literally 5 meters away from me. I managed to take a couple of real close up pictures before it flew away.

Tried to take pictures of bats but they were too fast for me.

After breakfast we hung around the pool again as it seemed a good meeting place for the kids to meet. I brought the Seadoo out to play again and let the kids loose on it. It attracted a lot attention from the other kids. In the end everyone was whizzing around on it.

At lunch Mustufa told us that he would not see us on our last day as he was going to Male for the day but one of the other waiters would take care of us. So rushed back to the villa to pick up some money to tip him. On our return to the villa we discovered a letter from reception telling us that our bill had gone over $500 and we should settle this ASAP. Settled the bill & tipped Mustafa £20. Played Water polo in the afternoon which was a great way to work off the lunch as well as make a few friends.

Our meal in the AW was brilliant. Ate so much I couldn’t move ….. I was tempted to call the buggy to take me the whole 50 yards back to our LV.

Sun 21st Oct (our last day on Meeru)
As it was our last day we took this opportunity to walk round the island and take lots of pictures. We mainly hung around the beach in front of our villa. I tipped out room boy $20. He made lots of animals out of leaves for the kids. Returned all the hired diving equipment and packed our bags for early departure the next morning.

Monday 22nd Oct
We were woken by reception at 5:15am. Left the bags outside our room so that we wouldn’t be disturbed, but the luggage boys still knocked …. probably after a last tip. I know that they don’t earn much but in opinion, tipping is something you earn for going above & beyond. Gave them a $1 each regardless.

Breakfast was at 6am with a limited spread as it was so early. Our boat left at 7am and we arrived back in Male for 7.50am. It's sad to leave but we were going on to another island so there was no chance for sadness ... just excitment.

Bandos (a brief-ish overview)

Journey from Meeru to Male took 50 min. It was another long wait for our transfer to Bandos (1.5 hours) as we were waiting for a couple of flights to land. When someone finally came around holding up the Bandos sign, only 5 people came forward …. Result!

The boat to take us to Bandos was quite a sporty one with an open back so the trip was nice & breezy. Male to Bando only took 20 minutes.

On arrival I have to admit that we were all excited at the thought of a week on Bandos. Reception was very fancy & much more hotel like. Got the complimentary non-alcoholic cocktail & cool mint towel which is probably standard across all islands. Room keys handed were handed to us & we were left to find our own room. This didn’t bother me as I had already had an idea as to where our room was as I had studied the Bandos Map on their website.

We were thinking of upgrading to Jacuzzi Beach Villa but the Deluxe Rooms were fine. The A/C worked much better than the ones in the Meeru LV’s. Our room was divided into two areas. A lounge area and the main bedroom. The kids had beds set up in the lounge area. The indoor bathroom was huge with a special wet room. You can't see the beach from your villa but it's only 20 meters away

The Island & Beaches
First thing we did was walk round the island with takes around 20 minutes in comparison to the 40 minutes it takes to walk around Meeru. We noticed that there was much less beach space between the green area & the sea but it was still beautiful.

We walked pass the standard rooms which were much nicer than the ones on Meeru with a much nice beach area. Walked pass the JBV or beehives as we like to call them.... nice looking but too close together & less beach space.

Dive Centre
I have to admit that the dive centre was brilliant. I checked in with all my details after a brief chat with Ayesha I booked up to do my Advanced Padi Open Water as it worked out as nearly the same as 5 dives. This involved doing some specialist dives - Deep Dive, Compass Dive, Nitrox Dive, Fish ID Dive and a Night Dive. A special mention to Graham & Leo ... all superb & very very friendly.

My first dive was a Deep Dive off the house Reef. I came across 4 large reef sharks, 2 turtles, an Eagle Ray and a small wreck on first dive on Bandos …. Amazing!

I also booked up to dive at Lankin Reef to see the Manta's which was only a 45 minute boat trip compared to 1.5 hours from Meeru. In the 7 years I have been diving this was the most amazing dive I had done to date. Diving with 4 huge Manta Rays swimming around me left me speechless.

There were Moray Eels of all types

Including this one which was huge!!!!!

On one of my dives, just as we jumped out of the boat & started to decend, this huge Tuna fish appeared and swam over us (didn't realise these were so big).

Tried to book a dive to the Victory Wreck (huge cargo ship which is just off Male) but it was cancelled due to the current being too strong. Ended up going to Banana Reef which was just as amazing. Came across 2 huge Napoleon Wrasse, a 5ft White Tip Reed Shark, and a green huge turtle which was a first for me.

To summarise, the diving on Bandos was 10/10. But there is one thing I came across that totally blew me away ... some thing I will never ever forget ... a once in a life time experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Luckily I managed to take a picture before it got away.

The Swimming Pool
The main pool is actually a heated pool which I could not see the point in having in the Maldives. . It’s smaller than Meeru and located away from the beach. No waiter service but it did have a nice swim up bar which Jacuzzi bubbles around the stools in front of the bar.

The Sports Centre
Squash, badminton, table tennis & pool with a kids centre and TV Lounge. The gym is free but was quite busy. I only managed to use it twice whilst on Bandos. There is also a smaller swimming pool which is not heated.

We preferred this location as it was much quieter and often had the area to our selves. The Sports centre reception also stocked drinks (beers & soft drinks).

Restaurants& BarsSea breeze Café - no smiles from the waiters first time round but good food with an excellent views of Kudo-Bandos which is the uninhabited sister island to Bandos.

Sunset Bar - food OK but the night we chose to eat here the weather was too windy to sit & enjoy the sunsets so we ended up indoors behind the wind guards. Apparantly it's the place to hang out in the evenings to watch the sunset and all the fishes which are lit up under the bar

The Gallery – This is the main buffet restaurant similar to the Fari on Meeru. It’s divided up into 3 sections with one of them being a non-smoking one. The food was the same as Meeru (although Meeru wins hands down on the deserts) with a much better curry section.

The Harbour – posh al-la-carte …. We never ate here as it was too expensive so can’t comment.

The Sand Bar – huge area with a stage for shows, bands, etc. The service varies but we did notice that we always came away from the Sand Bar with a couple of mozzi-bites.

Snorkeling
Loads to see but Maxi found the sea too rough. With the weather being so unsettled it was difficult to snorkel.

Night Fishing with BBQ at Kudo-Bandos
The same as Meeru but with added bonus going to Bandos’s sister island (uninhabited) where they BBQ the fish you have caught. As you can see I got a little excited when I caught my one and only fish.

Once you reach Kudo-Bandos, you are served drinks on the beach whilst the light the BBQ. All the other food is brought over from Bandos. They also put on a traditional Maldivian sing-a-long & dance on the beach & encouraged us to join in.

The Spa
Excellent as the full massage we had was 1.5 hrs long. Pure bliss … we enjoyed it so much we went back for more.

Meeru vs Bandos
To be honest, we enjoyed both. They say that your first week is always slow and your second week fly's by. For us, spending time on 2 islands made the holiday seem longer. So when we return to the Maldives, it will defiantly be a 2 center holiday.

Both islands have their good points & their bad points.

Meeru has a wonderful desert island feel. Even though the island was full, it never showed. The staff are great, the beaches lovely. The only bad point being the poor reefs around the island as some of the other islands have excellent house reefs within swimming distance.

Would we return … yes but without the kids so we can experience the JWV but that’ll be in 10 years time when our kids are teenagers and no longer wish to holiday with their parents as that would not be cool.

Bandos was excellent for the food and the diving blew me away. Excellent house reef with amazing sea life. Very child friendly & most of the staff are brilliant. The only bad point is that it is closer to Male (you can see Male from the beach) and there is less beach space in some locations. Would we return to Bandos … not sure yet. The kids did prefer it over Meeru but we want to see even more of the Maldives. May be a 2 centre holiday with our first week on Bandos and our second to a new island.

A special thanks to HJ for showing me how to put photos on a trip report ..... much easier than I thought.

Also a mention to Sheila Menzies from Holiday-Experts.co.uk for booking the whole package for us .... good price too.

If you drank wine whilst reading this trip report, you must be very very merry by now ..... hic!!

great report how long were you typing for that would have taken me weeks the pic of the tuna is brill i tried scuba myself but i just could not get my head around breathing underwater i will try again though next time we go

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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 7:58 pm

Humble Jim

Joined: 03 Jan 2005

Posts: 6251

Location: Leeds, UK

Chas

If Carlsberg did Trip Reports they couldn't make one to beat yours, an exceptionally well presented and also highly informative peice of work.

Magnificent photography too...with the possible exception of the shot of one's self peacefully slumbering on his pool lounger after a hard morning's doing nothing .

A really top report...this will take some beating...cant say any more.

steve

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:50 am

volvo

Joined: 26 Jul 2007

Posts: 26

A great trip report , we stayed in 215 LV with our daughter earlier this year .

Amazing place , realy brought some memories back for us with your report . Many thanks for posting it .

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:26 am

sarah p

Joined: 11 May 2005

Posts: 51

Location: grimsby

Waiting for this one and it was great !

Like you bandos had good and bad points, for us the lack of beach and the strong current on one side of the island was a real downside.
Although i dont dive the snorkeling around the sundowners bar was out of this world,and made up for the bad points.

I agree with you totally about the air con it's fab on Bandos

We also named the Beehives, Beehives They looked good and personally thought they where the best located rooms on the island.

So glad you had a fab time and like us want to return to the maldives again its just an amazing place.

we are booked to go in April so get xmas out of the way and we will be counting down the days

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:12 am

maggie

Joined: 28 Sep 2005

Posts: 4842

Location: northwest uk

thanks chaz & maxi

for a great double report

sounds as if you had an amazing holiday........ the piccies BTW where amazing

all the best

maggie

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bear with me as I am blonde,and am awaiting next vacation
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:11 pm

Paul E

Joined: 14 Feb 2007

Posts: 52

Spot on!
Thanks for that.

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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:13 pm

AlisonD

Joined: 19 Feb 2007

Posts: 708

Location: Kent

Great trip report - thanks so much for sharing your hols with us.

Superb pics - and how amazing that you managed to catch a glimpse of the very rare species which I believe to be called 'lavatorium abandonosa'

Alison

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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:54 pm

helenpea

Joined: 13 Feb 2007

Posts: 1133

Location: Cleveland

Great report and fantastic pictures

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The best things in life are not things.

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:20 pm

loobieloo

Joined: 11 Mar 2006

Posts: 381

Location: linthorpe

excellent

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:27 pm

ivorfatarse

Joined: 12 Oct 2006

Posts: 796

hi chas if you do a search for tuna with ivorfatarse as the author you can see the one i hauled in earlier this year man it was mega hot stood on the pier getting photos done